Life as a Pikmin
by Pikacrafter45
Summary: When Zack mysteriously finds himself in a body not his own, he must find a way to get back to normal. But when Olimar crash lands, things get a lot more complicated.
1. Prolouge

Hello. My name is Zack. I'm going to going to tell you about the greatest adventure of my life. It was when Captain Olimar had crashed on the planet. Sure, all of you are probably thinking I'm joking, but I'm not. I'm dead serious. If you care, sit down and I'll tell you about it.

Prologue

I was walking along one day. Nowhere special, just an open field. Suddenly, I fell in a hole. I screamed like as I fell down until I landed on a flower. The flower began to close around me. As my conciseness began to fade, a single thought crossed my mind. Being the person I am, the thought was, _"Is this what being a Pikmin feels like?"_


	2. Day One

When Zack woke up, the first thing he noticed was his surroundings. "Whoa," he finally said. "Where am I?" He was in a small, circular room. There was a small tube in the center, which led to a strange machine. Suddenly, the room lurched. Zack dashed to a window to see…

…The ground speeding towards him. He barely had time to scream before he was thrown across the room. When he awoke, it was if nothing had happened. Zack leaned a hand against a wall, and he noticed the most peculiar thing. The hand was not human, but bright red with three fingers. It suddenly all came together. The strange flower had turned him into a Pikmin, and he had been transported to the Onion. He turned around and looked at the machine. "And that's for making seeds!" Suddenly, a hole appeared in the machine, and promptly sucked him in. That was when he lost conciseness.

When he awoke, he was in the ground. He heard vibrations above the ground, and assumed it was Olimar. He sighed internally, and began to wave his stem to pass the time. An hour went by, when all of a sudden, a pair of cold hands gripped him, and he felt himself being pulled from the ground. He popped out and soared a little before lending on his rump. He looked up to see a plump man with a large nose, three tufts of hair, and a space suit. Needless to say, it was Olimar. Zack (being Zack) immediately jump up and hugged Olimar. Much to his surprise, Olimar shrieked and smacked Zack, who landed a short distance away. Olimar then picked up a stick and hid behind a rock. Zack quickly realized that Olimar was afraid of him, and decided to ignore him for the time being. So, he quickly beat a Pellet Posy to death with his leaf, and then carried it to the Onion. He watched as the pellet was sucked up, which then was converted to seeds that were spat out of the flower on top of the Onion. He plucked the first Pikmin, who simply stared at him blankly.

"Hello, my name is Zack." said Zack.

"Who am I?" asked the Pikmin.

Zack thought for a bit on what to say. "You are a Pikmin. Your job is to knock down those Pellet Posies," he pointed to the said flower, "and bring them to the Onion behind you. As for your name, I've decided to call you Tyler." The Pikmin nodded and happily skipped over to the pellets. Zack pulled the other Pikmin and briefed him, telling him he could make up a name. He nodded and joined the other. _"Such innocence." _mused Zack. After the course of several hours, he amassed 25 Pikmin.

"What do we do now?" asked Tyler.

"We are going to push a box." replied Zack. With their combined efforts, they managed to push the box, which led them to the Engine of the Dolphin. "Everyone pick up the object and follow me!" shouted Zack. They brought it to the Onion, which up righted while repairing its main functions. Olimar just stared in awe. It was getting dark, so Zack told the Pikmin to go up the Onion's stilts. He was about to follow, but decided to make a quick detour. He stopped in front of Olimar and wrote down "YOUR WELCOME" in the sand. Then he headed off to his new home.

That night, dreams tormented Zack. He dreamt about never getting home, and never being able to survive, and worst of all, Olimar dying of oxygen on the final day.


	3. Day Two

**I'm sorry I haven't been able to put an author's note for the past two chapters, I just forget. On a separate note, I get to taunt all of you because I know Keifren1ooo's true name!**

Zack woke up to the jerking of the Onion landing, and quickly got up and out. Once outside, he thought about leaving a message for Olimar, but decided against it. He quickly knocked down a pellet posy, and fed it to the Onion. He plucked the Pikmin and let them go back into the Onion to get acquainted. Soon, Tyler's head popped out of the Onion. He slid down and stood next to Zack.

"What are we doing to do today?" asked the Red Pik, curious as ever.

"We're going to upgrade." came the reply. Tyler watched as Zack started to pluck some grass. Soon, there was a giant puddle of yellow goo. "Stick your hand in the nectar." said Zack. Tyler did so, and a white flower appeared on his stem. The young Pikmin stared in awe at his appendage. Many Pikmin noticed this and started to complain.

"How did he get a flower?" "That's not fair, we're stuck with leaves!" "When do we get one?" Zack led them all to the nectar, and the process was repeated. Zack decided to drink some nectar for himself. He placed his hand in…

… and it was like every good food you've ever tasted combined in flavor couldn't even compare to this. It was like a piece of heaven came down in the form of the nectar. With his new flower, Zack felt like nothing could stop him.

"Come on guys, let's start the day with our heads held high!" All the Pikmin cheered and started to break down the nearby wall. However, when they were finished, a surprise was waiting for them. Standing in front of them was a Dwarf Bulborb. It had a large red rump with round white spots, two scrawny legs, two stalks with eyes on them, and a huge maw that made up most of its body. Zack withdrew his Pikmin and formed a battle strategy. He formed his army into three groups. Group A would feint in the front, while group B and C would attack from the sides. The strategy worked perfectly, and they used it to defeat the other two Dwarf Bulborbs, and with the bodies raised the number of Pikmin to 36. With all the new recruits, Zack prepared to face the Spotty Bulborb, which is basically a huge Dwarf Bulborb. (The only differences are that a Spotty Bulborb is a sit and wait predator, while the Dwarfs are always active, and that they are actually two different types of species.) But, as the Pikmin were approaching, the Dolphin landed, waking up the mouth with legs. "Fudge," Zack started to say, but was interrupted by the screams of four Pikmin as they were devoured by the beast. "Roll to the left!" Zack shouted. Somehow, the Pikmin understood, and they were able to escape the Bulborb as it came in for another bite. "Get behind and go for the legs!" Zack commanded. The Pikmin did so, and they quickly toppled the Bulborb over and killed it. Then Zack was greeted by a surprise. The four Pikmin that were eaten crawled out of the dead Bulborb, somehow alive. The others cheered, and Zack commanded ten of them to carry the dead body back. "Why aren't we carrying back the metal piece?" Zack turned around to see Tyler standing in front of him. "We don't have enough Pikmin to carry it back, and there's something else I want to see." he answered as he turned to look at the wall that stood before them. The day was three quarters of the way over, and he thought he could do one more thing. Halfway done with the wall, Olimar came to them. He had twenty Pikmin with them and was furiously scribbling in a journal. _"This is the real Olimar." _Zack thought. The wall was quickly diminished, so Zack walked into the small clearing. He stepped forward and suddenly the yellow Onion sprung up and shot out a single seed. Without hesitation, he plucked it. The Yellow Pikmin sailed over his head and landed on it's face. The newborn Pikmin looked at him. Zack expected to see curiosity in it's eyes, but instead he saw fear. "What are you?" the Pikmin whispered in horror. He (the Yellow Pikmin, not Zack) looked down at his own body. "What am I?" he screamed. Zack looked up and saw that the Pikmin were beginning to become uncomfortable. The only one not filled with unease was Olimar, who wasn't really paying attention, as he was writing in his journal, and couldn't understand anyway. Zack turned his attention back to the Yellow. "Listen, you're going to be okay. You just need to climb up the stilts and go into the thing behind me." The Yellow nodded fearfully, and started climbing the stilts towards the Onion. Disturbed, Zack headed back towards the landing site. When they arrived, Zack took note of that Olimar had set down his journal and pencil. On an impulse, Zack picked it up and started to write something down when he was finished, he set it down and told all the Pikmin to get inside the Onion.

That night, Zack couldn't sleep. He couldn't stop thinking of the Yellow. _"What if he was supposed to be a Red, but was a Yellow instead?" "What if that happens every time an Onion spits it's first seed?" _But in his heart, he knew the true answer.

Another human was down here.

**Boom, another chapter! If you're wandering about the Yellow, his name is currently up for grabs. Those who enter a name will get mentioned, and the one I deem the best will become the Yellows permanent name. Also, if you make a good enough back story, I just might include that too! Bye!**


	4. Day Three

**I'm back! I just wanted to say thank you to all for submitting possible names for the Yellow. They were Keifren1ooo, reader, guy, IDEA, and the evil guest. Keifren1ooo was the only one that signed in, but he entered his name(s) through a PM. The best name was submitted by IDEA. Without further ado, CHAPTER 4!**

Zack woke up to the now familiar jolt of the landing sequence. The other Pikmin seemed to be sleeping, so he decided to step out for some fresh air. When Zack stepped out, he noticed Olimar was already out of the Dolphin, and the Yellow Onion was there as well. Olimar raised an eyebrow at Zack, but he ignored it and climbed up the Yellow Onion. Technically he wasn't supposed to do that, but he didn't really care.

When he got there, he noticed the Yellow curled up in a ball next to the machine. "Hey, wake up!" Zack said to the Pikmin. It jolted awake, but settled down as he realized it was me.

"Oh, it's just you. Mind telling me why I'm here I'm here and why I look like this?" He motioned to his entire body.

"What was the last thing you remember before you became a Pikmin?"

The Yellow closed his eyes and started to think. "It went like this…"

_ Gunshots._

_ Explosions._

_ Screams of pain and death._

_ Running._

_ "They're going to catch me."_

_ "They're going to kill me."_

_ "They're going to murder me."_

_ Blinding pain._

_ Falling._

_ Darkness._

The Yellow stopped here. Zack was simply speechless. He had never heard such a sad story. "So you have nowhere to return to?" The Yellow simply nodded its head miserably. "Look, maybe it's sad, but you've got to keep your head up and look towards the future. There's no point in dwelling in the past."

The Yellow looked up at Zack. There were tears streaming down his face. "But you barely have a past a past to look back on! You don't know what it's like leaving a family behind!"

"Believe me, I do. You're not the only human down here." Zack replied before swiftly walking out door.

Once outside, Zack waited for the Yellow to come out. When he did, he was much calmer. "What's your name?" inquired Zack. "Mine's Zack."

"My name is Jack." replied the Yellow, whom will now be called Jack. He suddenly jumped as he saw Olimar. "WHAT IS THAT!?" screamed Jack, before cowering behind Zack's back.

Olimar chuckled. "You seem a little frightened my friend." Zack then figured that Olimar spoke English.

"It can speak our language?" Jack whispered.

"On the contrary, we just understand him. You can come forward, he doesn't bite." Zack replied. Jack took a tentative step forward, then another, until he was right in front of Olimar.

"It's okay little one, I won't hurt you. Here have this." Olimar held out a jar of nectar. Being a Pikmin, Jack instinctively knew all about his own body, so he dipped his hand into the jar. As soon as he tasted it, he drank the whole bottle and a beautiful ivory flower bloomed on his stem. Once he was finished, he turned to Zack.

"What do we do now?" he asked.

"We need to collect ship parts for the Dolphin." Zack pointed to said spaceship. "But to do that, we need the help of our fellow Pikmin." Zack called out all of his Red Pikmin.

"Okay, today I want you to build up your numbers. Collect pellets until there are fifty of you. After you're done with that, I want you to collect the Yellow Pellets, and bring them to the Yellow Onion." They complied, and headed off to kill some Bulborbs. Zack turned to Jack. "We need to get you your first Pikmin."

"But I thought I was the first the first Pikmin!"

"True, but you and I are really humans. I'm talking about real Pikmin." Zack cut down a nearby Yellow Pellet Posy, and fed it to the Yellow Onion, which spit out two seeds. Zack turned to Jack. "Pluck one of the Pikmin from the ground. Answer any questions it has and give it a name."

"Here goes…" Jack muttered. He gripped a stem tightly and tugged it from the ground. It flipped in the air and landed behind Jack.

"Excuse me if I'm being rude, but could you tell me what my name is?" it asked. Zack was taken aback by its formality.

"Your name is Sam." Jack replied, picking the first name that came to mind.

"Okay. Do you mind telling me what I am to do?"

"I would like you to gather Yellow Pellets and bring them to the Yellow Onion you see behind you. I would also like you to puck any Pikmin that come out, like him." Jack motioned to the other sprout. "You would tell them that they can pick any name they want." Sam nodded, and then went off to do what he was told.

"I didn't know you knew about Pikmin!" Zack said.

"I picked up a lot from my friend." Jack replied. "He went on and on."

They talked about their life, and their hobbies, and why the Trombone (which Zack played) is more/less important than the flute. After about an hour, they had 49 Yellows and 49 Reds amassed in front of them. Zack then began to list of their plan for the day.

"We need to collect a few ship parts today, so first, we will have twenty of each color take back the Eternal Fuel Dynamo. Then, some of your Pikmin will carry some bomb rocks and blow up the stone wall. We will advance past, where we will split up. My Red Pikmin and I will get the Whimsical Radar, while you and your Yellows will blow up another wall and get the Extraordinary Bolt."

"Are you making up these names as you go along?" interrupted Jack.

"No, I'm not." replied Zack.

The one hundred and one walked on their planned route. Suddenly, something caught Zack's eye. As he went to investigate, he found a needle. He decided it would be a good weapon, and continued. As they reached the Eternal Fuel Dynamo, they were all startled as Olimar shouted, "My Eternal Fuel Dynamo!" Zack was even more surprised when Olimar ran up and hugged him. Once the EFD was being carried away, they headed off towards the bomb rocks. Jack led the Yellows to carry them, and he commanded three of them to throw it at the stone wall near where the Yellow Onion was found. However, there was one thing that Zack had forgotten about.

The party was walking along when they suddenly heard a strange sound.

"What was that?" Jack asked.

"It sounds like something is digging…" replied Zack. Suddenly, he remembered about the Sheargrubs. He tackled Jack to the ground just as a male Sheargrub burst out of the ground. The rest of the Pikmin quickly swarmed it, and it died almost instantly.

"That was close." said Zack. He turned towards Jack…

…and saw his legs get bitten off by a Sheargrub. Zack immediately lunged at the Sheargrub and stabbed his needle into it. A blue fluid oozed out, and it was dead. But Zack didn't care. He knelt beside Jack and looked over him. He was moaning in pain and both of his knees and below were cut off. So Zack did the first thing that came to mind. He burrowed all of his lower body. (Zack's logic was that if Jack could absorb nutrients from the ground, maybe he could grow back Jack's legs) After a couple of seconds, Jack stopped moaning.

"Are you okay?" Zack asked.

"I'm just fine. Thank you." Jack replied.

Zack dug him out of the ground and helped him onto his new feet. After that, they continued as planned. Zack managed to throw the Reds up to the Whimsical Radar, and Jack led the Yellows to get the Extraordinary Bolt. After taking them back to the S.S. Dolphin, Zack and Jack climbed into their respective Onions.

That night, Zack dreamt of his family. His new, colorful, leafy family.

**Boom, another chapter! Sorry I've taken so long, I've been lazy. Maybe if you bribe me enough, I could tell you Keifren1ooo's name, but only if you pester. Also, I included a reference to said author! Stuff.**

**Disclaimer: Reggie owns Nintendo of America, Miyamoto owns Pikmin, I own my sandwich, and Tyler owns you.**

**I would greatly appreciate reviews, and any type of criticism would be nice. I would also appreciate ideas for characters and events. Furthermore, Poy would appreciate any torture ideas you give him. (Seriously, don't give any to him. It would cause all kinds of tears in the space time continuum!)**


	5. Day Four

**Hello children! I'm back! I have some exciting news! Soon, kingalex1234, Keifren1ooo, and I, Pikmin Biscuit, are starting a collab! I hope you all like it! This chapter may seem like I'm rushing the story, but I wanted to get some more things in. Without further ado, Pootis Man! Not really, I'm just kidding.**

Zack woke up not to the ship landing, but the silence. Usually the Onion was buzzing with chatter and activity. But today there was no one else. Zack looked outside. If he squinted, he could just barely make out Olimar. He was running from a Bulborb while at the same time trying to kill it. "Mother f***ing…" Zack cursed under his breath. He popped out of the Onion to find Jack, Tyler, and Sam waiting for him.

"Thank goodness you are alright sir; I was beginning to get worried!" Zack swore he could detect traces of a British accent in Sam's voice.

"You slept in, so Olimar thought he would go and try to find some ship parts." Jack explained.

"Yeah, I saw his ass getting wiped." muttered Zack.

"What's an ass?" Tyler questioned.

"An ass is a term used to talk about one's posterior. A jackass is a term commonly used to insult another, usually to display that one has been acting either stupid or just plain annoying." Sam stated.

"How do you know these things?" Jack interrupted.

Sam grinned. "It comes naturally." he replied almost gleefully.

"What other things do-" but Zack was cut off as he was lifted into the air. Judging by the familiar scream and the continuous buzzing noise, he guessed he and Jack were being carried by a Swooping Snitchbug. He waited for it to launch him into the ground, but it didn't. Instead, it carried him up to a small hollow in a tree and went inside.

"What the fudge?" Zack muttered. Inside the hollow was a giant computer, as well as a thick bulging bag. The Snitchbug set Zack and Jack down before reaching into the bag and producing two black bands. They were wide and had what looked like a thin grey credit card on one side. The Snitchbug promptly strapped one on Zack's wrist. He tried to do it to Jack, but he had taken up a loose twig and was hiding in the corner.

The Snitchbug made a sighing noise and turned to Zack. He tapped the card on Zack's wrist. The card blazed to life, showing a clock not unlike Olimar's. Then, Zack heard the Snitchbug speak.

"Is your friend always like this?" Zack was taken aback. How did he understand the Snitchbug? As if on cue, the Snitchbug said, "The small device you are wearing allows you to understand other beings. You just need to press your hand to their forehead." The Snitchbug held out a hand. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am William J. Henry, member of the Anti-Pikavore division. It's a pleasure to be your acquaintance."

Zack shook the William's hand. "It's nice to meet you William."

The Snitchbug grinned. "Just call me Will. Though I am proud of my name, I was named after the Bard himself."

Zack blinked in surprise. "You know about Shakespeare?"

Will motioned to his computer. "We're smarter than you think Zack. And yes," he said, looking at Zack's dumbfounded expression. "I have known you were coming for a long time."

"How…" Zack began, but he was cut off by Will.

"Oh please, it's child's play to send out a droid through a Temporal Flower." He looked at Zack, who was still confused. "I guess it's time for an explanation."

"You see, Temporal Flowers act as bridges between the rips in the fabric of space and time. After going into a Temporal Flower, your essence is transported along Temporal Lines until they reach a Temporal Gate, which is where several Temporal Lines meet. You're lucky all you did was travel forward in time. Anyway, often times a Temporal Gate will change your body to suit the environment. For instance, all the oxygen on this planet is poisonous."

"Wait, Olimar breaths oxygen?" interrupted Zack.

"The Hocotatian? They can breathe oxygen, but it makes them nauseas and often gives them mild poisoning."

Zack nodded. "So what does this do?" he asked, pointing to the device.

"That can tell you the time of day, Pikmin information, and all the beings you are able to communicate with. I also programmed it to be able to e-mail Olimar's suit computer, my computer, and it lets you talk with your friend."

"Speaking of Jack, he's right behind you."

Will turned around and gave a small yelp of surprise. "You were having a conversation with him, so I imagined he was safe." Jack said. He let Will strap on the device, and then Will introduced himself and began to talk about Temporal Flowers. The conversation began to shift, and soon they were talking about the inner workings of Will's computer. Zack left the hollow and sat on the edge of an outside branch. He then noticed a Whiskerpillar. He smiled at it, and he put his hand to its forehead. Zack watched in amazement as thin metal threads curled into the Whiskerpillar, and then suddenly disappeared as quickly as it came. Zack decided to experiment.

"Hello!" he said to the Whiskerpillar. He did not get the reaction he expected.

"AHH! MY WORST FEARS HAVE BEEN REALIZED!" screamed the Whiskerpillar. It then proceeded to scoot away in fright.

"Well, now I know it works." muttered Zack.

_Back on the ranch._

Later that afternoon, Will took Zack and Jack back down to the camp. There they found Olimar.

"Thank goodness I found you two! I was beginning to get worried!"

Zack looked at Jack and he nodded. Zack motioned for Olimar to follow him. He stopped in front of the S.S. Dolphin and pointed to it.

"You want to go inside?" Olimar asked. Zack nodded, and Olimar beamed him and Jack up with him.

Zack motioned for Olimar to take off his helmet. Once he did, he and Jack pressed his hand to Olimar's forehead. Three seconds later, Olimar fainted. He did so because Zack had said "hello."

_On another ranch._

Olimar woke up to see a hole. As wrong as that may sound, he was indeed looking out of the Forest Navel. He sat up and watched as two Pikmin; a Red and a Yellow; were building a bridge to a brown rock using blue pellets. "Strange little creatures." he mused.

The Yellow Pikmin glared at him. "Who are you calling strange?" it replied angrily. Olimar felt his jaw drop.

"Relax Jack; he's been through a lot." This was the Red now.

"We've been through a lot too Zack." said Jack.

The Red one, presumably Zack, spoke up. "Why are you so agitated? You're usually not like this."

"Well, it bothers me that I almost got fried to a crisp by the pig!" Jack yelled.

"Fiery Blowhog." corrected Zack.

"Excuse me," Olimar interrupted. "But I appear to understand your conversation, but that should be impossible. Right?"

"Actually, this device on my wrist allows me to communicate with you. My name is Zack, and I'm the first Pikmin you plucked."

"So you're the one that wrote in my journal all of the attributes of your kind!"

"Yes." replied Zack. "You could say I'm special."

"Hey special, a giant bug is stealing our pellets!" Jack yelled from a distance.

Zack gasped. "I forgot about the Breadbug! Olimar you need to go help Jack bring back the pellet! No questions!" Olimar complied.

Zack hopped across the "bridge" and touched the Onion. It sprung to life and released a blue seed. So Zack plucked it.

"Hi!" the Pikmin said cheerfully. It stuck out a hand. "My name is 493-A. What's yours?"

"Zack…" said Zack skeptically.

"Interesting name. I assume you don't come from where I come from, because that's not a normal name for me. Any ways, I know what to do. I've played Pikmin 87, and they say it's very similar to the first. Though I've never seen a Red Pikmin."

"Well, okay, if you know what you're doing. But first, we have a tradition. You must name the first Pikmin you pluck." Zack replied.

"Okay." She fed the Onion a pellet and plucked the first sprout, naming it Adam. (Zack is pretty sure Adam had an Australian accent.)

When Jack and Olimar came back, the Blue Pikmin took the pellet and fed it and the Breadbug to the Onion. Olimar was overjoyed at the spacefloat, and they carried it back.

Before Zack could go into the Blue Onion (he was going to school 493-A) Olimar stopped him. "How did we get here?" he asked.

Zack grinned. "After seeing that the Dolphin's flight was enhanced, I flew the ship here." In response to Olimar's dumbfounded expression, he added, "I told you I'm special."

**Another chapter! Not much to say, but I will say that you will get to pick 493-A's new name. She will be elaborated on later, but anyway, please review and send names for the Blue!**


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